Women are fined more for litter offences

By Peter Foster

12:00AM GMT 30 Nov 2000

WOMEN caught dropping litter are fined, on average, 20 per cent more than men convicted of the same offence, according to new Home Office figures.

The discrepancy was uncovered by the Tidy Britain Group which campaigns for a cleaner Britain and is calling for tougher penalties for dropping litter. Last year, 471 people were convicted of litter offences, compared with more than five times that number 10 years ago. Male offenders paid an average fine of £77, while women paid £91.

There were also notable regional variations in the attitude of police towards litter. Cumbria, Northumbria and Lancashire emerged as the most likely forces to prosecute litter bugs. Surrey, Suffolk and Wiltshire were the least likely.

Peter Gibson, of the Tidy Britain Group, said that local councils were failing to use on-the-spot fines to deter litter droppers. He said: "The councils were given the power to issue fixed penalty notices in 1990, which accounts for the drop in the number of criminal prosecutions since that time.

"However our research showed that only 422 notices were issued by councils last year and almost 300 of those were issued by the London borough of Wandsworth." As to gender bias, Mr Gibson said: "Who can tell? Perhaps magistrates think women should know better."